The field of communications has many applications including, e.g., paging, wireless local loops, Internet telephony, and satellite communication systems. An exemplary application is a cellular telephone system for mobile subscribers. (As used herein, the term “cellular” system encompasses both cellular and personal communications services (PCS) system frequencies.) Modern communication systems designed to allow multiple users to access a common communications medium have been developed for such cellular systems. These modern communication systems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), polarization division multiple access (PDMA), or other modulation techniques known in the art. These modulation techniques demodulate signals received from multiple users of a communication system, thereby enabling an increase in the capacity of the communication system. In connection therewith, various wireless systems have been established including, e.g., Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), and some other wireless systems. Other wireless systems include Ultra-Wideband (UWB) systems.
UWB technology provides high speed communications over an extremely wide bandwidth. At the same time, UWB signals are transmitted in very short pulses that consume very little power. The output power of the UWB signal is so low that it looks like noise to other RF technologies, making it less interfering.
A number of different devices can be UWB-enabled, for example, mobile phones, personal digital assistants or laptop computers. Each such device is equipped with UWB components, including a receiver and transmitter, allowing it to communicate with other similarly equipped devices nearby without the use of cables or other physical connections.
As an example, a wireless code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile phone can be UWB-enabled, meaning that the mobile phone would be able to communicate with both a CDMA network and a UWB network. Such a UWB-enabled CDMA mobile phone may comprise both UWB and CDMA components.
A UWB-enabled device may be configured to communicate with wireless networks other than CDMA. Thus, a UWB-enabled device may be configured to communicate with GSM, GPRS, W-CDMA, or any other network known in the art.
A UWB-enabled device may be configured to communicate with a plurality of different types of networks. Thus, a UWB-enabled device may be configured to communicate with CDMA and GSM networks in addition to UWB networks.
Wasteful or excessive power consumption is a concern in wireless devices since it can hinder the device's operation and detract from its usefulness. Wasteful or excessive power consumption is a particular concern in multi-mode UWB devices because power can be consumed by a plurality of components that are needed to communicate with a plurality of networks.
There is therefore a need in the art for a method and related system to reduce the amount of power consumed by various components of a UWB-enabled device, such as a UWB-enabled CDMA mobile phone.